Khao Man Gai (Thai Poached Chicken with Ginger Rice)

Ingredients

• 800 g chicken thigh, bone-in and skin-on
• 400 g white rice, rinsed until the water runs clear
• 60 g fresh ginger, half sliced and half finely grated
• 10 garlic, six crushed and four minced
• 1½ l chicken stock
• 1 cucumber, thinly sliced
• 3 spring onion, cut into lengths
• 4 tbsp fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
• 2 tbsp miso paste
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp rice vinegar
• 3 fresh chilli, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp white sugar
• 2 tbsp lime juice
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 tsp salt

Method

1. 1.

   Set the chicken to poach — Put the chicken thighs into a pot just wide enough to hold them in one layer with the chicken stock, the sliced ginger, the crushed garlic, the green tops of the spring onions and the salt. Bring it barely to a simmer — a lazy bubble, never a boil — and skim off the grey foam that rises.

2. 2.

   Shock the chicken, save the broth — Poach for 25 minutes, until the juices at the bone run clear. Lift the chicken straight into a bowl of very cold water for two minutes to stop the cooking and tighten the skin, then strain the broth and keep it hot.

3. 3.

   Toast the rice in chicken fat — Skim two tablespoons of the yellow fat from the surface of the broth into a saucepan with the oil. Fry the grated ginger and half the minced garlic for a minute, then add the drained rice and stir for two minutes until every grain is glossy and smells nutty.

4. 4.

   Cook the rice in broth — Pour in 620 ml of the hot broth, bring it to a boil, then cover and cook on the lowest heat for 15 minutes. Leave the lid on off the heat for a further 10 minutes before forking the grains apart — they should be separate and just short of soft.

5. 5.

   Pound the chilli sauce — For the sauce, pound the chillies with the remaining minced garlic and a little of the grated ginger to a rough paste, then stir in the miso paste, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar and lime juice. Loosen it with a spoonful of hot broth; it should taste hot, salty and sharp all at once.

6. 6.

   Carve and plate — Slice the chicken off the bone in thick pieces. Mound the rice on warm plates, lay the chicken over it, tuck the cucumber alongside and shower with cilantro and the white parts of the spring onions. Serve with the sauce and a small bowl of the remaining hot broth.